amandatd
Traveller
2 comments
Posted 12 years ago
I am looking to travel from Munich airport to Bamberg one day then a few days later to Rothenburg Ob derTauer then after two days travel back to Munich.
I belive the Bayern (Bavaria) Lander ticket will cover all of these routes I will travel after 09:00 or weekdays? There will be two of us travelling together and I believe this ticket to be the most cost effecitive. It seems the Babmerg to Rothenburg may go through Wurzburg and may be outside of Bavaria for portions? Or am I mistaken?
I have seen little information on here about buying the Lander tickets online. I think I would at least like to buy the first one before leaving the US. As I have a US card without a chip and pin I believe I will not be able to purchase from the machines? It would seem buying the Bayern Lander ticket before I travel will allow me to have the ticket in hand avoiding the additional cost and time involved with buying the ticket from an agent at the airport? Is there any reason for me not to purchase online?
Thanks.
Peter
Traveller
9337 comments
Hi.
Have a look on bahn.com for details, search for Bayern-Ticket.
It is only valid for local/regional trains, NOT for the fast trains like IC, ICE. But it won't be a problem in Bavaria - so I think it is a good deal without now calculating all the details.
You can buy the Länderticket: Bayern-Ticket very easy at the modern ticket machines of DB (Deutsche Bahn). If you have problems, just ask someone - it is really easy (and also available in English language).
Peter
amandatd
Traveller
2 comments
Thanks!
I still do not understand why should I not buy ahead of time online?
Do you know for a fact it is possible to buy at a machine with a US issued credit card? I have heard from many people that it is not possible since US credit cards do not have chips and pins and I will not have change upon arrival. I have heard horror stories about having to wait in line for hours to purchse tickets at the airport because it is not possible to use the machine. I know for certain that it is impossible to use the machine at Charles De Galle with a US credit card.This is a problem people from the US are facing all over europe but I'm not sure about Germany in particular. I am not worried about understanding the machine just if it is will be able to process my card.
I have researched the bayern ticket on the website but do not understand if the regional train from Bamberg to Wurburg goes outside of Bayern and is invalid for the lander ticket? Does it not go outside of Bayern for part of the journey? I have not been able to find exact towns and routing. I am aware that it can only be regional trains.
Peter
Traveller
9337 comments
Of course you can buy the ticket as well online in advance.
I have no information about if payment is possible with a US credit card or not - and I never heard (or saw it - and I'm traveling Europe by train since more than 15 years very frequently) that you had to wait more than 15 minutes at a German train station. You can also get money at an ATM and pay by cash at the ticket machines.
Bamberg - Würzburg: both towns in Bavaria, the ticket is valid.
:)
amandatd
Traveller
2 comments
I thought I would update this thread for future searches. Thanks for all your help my train trips through Germany went smoothly. It is NOT possible to use a US credit card in the Bahn machines as our cards do not have a chip and pin I tried anyway to make sure but non chip and pin cards do not work. They do of course take cash and provide change. Presumably even if you only had a 50 euro bill straight from the bank machine it would give you the difference in coins I did not see a limit on change provided. Going to a window is 2 euros extra and was not often an option as I would leave before windows opened on the weekend. I did note upon my arrival in Munich October 1st that the line for the windows was out the door of the train station and around the corner it would have been a very long wait if you had to go to a window. I'm not sure if this was something to do with the beginning of the month? Bayern Lander was a spectacular deal I'm so glad it was an option for 3 of my itineraries.